The Germans will be "
vaccinated, cured or dead
" by the end of winter due to the surge in the number of contaminations by Covid-19, the Minister of Health warned on Monday, November 22, while the Chancellor outgoing Angela Merkel speaks of a "
dramatic
"
situation
.
Read also Covid-19: Merkel calls for a "national effort" to break the new wave
"
Presumably at the end of winter, as it is sometimes said with cynicism, almost everyone will be vaccinated, cured or dead
" due to the spread of the Delta variant "
very, very contagious
", judged Jens Spahn. He once again called on the Germans to "
urgently
" be vaccinated, the national proportion of people having received an injection remaining lower than that observed in many other European countries.
Germany, especially the southern and eastern regions, has been hit hard by a new wave of contaminations that experts and politicians attribute in particular to a vaccination rate (68%) among the lowest in Western Europe. Faced with the resurgence of the virus, which has already killed more than 99,000 people in this country since its appearance, Angela Merkel and her probable successor Olaf Scholz have already decided last week to tighten the restrictions for the unvaccinated.
But the outgoing chancellor warned on Monday that the measures currently in force in Germany were "no
longer sufficient
" in the face of the "
dramatic situation
" caused by the Covid-19.
The health situation "
will be worse than anything we have known
" so far, she also warned during a closed meeting of executives of her conservative CDU party, according to a source at within the training interviewed by AFP.
"Acute overload" of hospitals
“
We currently have a fourth wave, we have a very, very difficult situation in many hospitals in Germany,
” said Jens Spahn during a press conference. "
We are seeing this wave gradually spreading west,
" he added at a time when intensive care services in hospitals are reaching saturation point, in particular due to a lack of personnel. This is already causing "
acute overloading
" of hospitals in some regions, making patient transfers necessary, warned Gernot Marx, president of the German Federation of Intensive Medicine.
In recent days, Germany has recorded unmatched numbers of contaminations since the start of the pandemic, exceeding 65,000 last week in 24 hours.
On Monday, the seven-day incidence rate was 386.5, a record high.
A debate has opened on compulsory vaccination for all, announced in neighboring Austria for February.
Jens Spahn said Monday he was "
skeptical
".
The spokesperson for Angela Merkel's government declared "to
understand
" that a debate is open, but "
a decision has not been taken and will not be taken by this government
".
Read also In Germany, an anti-Covid strategy deemed "chaotic"
The coalition of the probable future Chancellor Olaf Scholz between SPD, Greens and Liberals has so far ruled out such a measure for all, while the leaders of the regions have called for the vaccination obligation for nursing staff in hospitals and institutions for people. elderly.